Mo Qu made a gesture of invitation. I pushed the door open unceremoniously.
Before the embroidered screen depicting Luo Shui Xian, Yan Huo knelt and sat, holding a teapot and pouring tea for himself. Seeing me burst in so rudely, he just smiled at me, his eyes like a clear mountain stream.
He had changed out of his gorgeous robe adorned with blue sapphires and was not wearing a formal headdress. Instead, he wore a dark red Zhu Zi deep robe and an ink bamboo hairpin.
I disliked this “just like back then” feeling, as if deliberately making me recall details from our first meeting. However, the Zheng Huo of the past, now Yan Huo, was absolutely not the gentle merchant’s son I once thought, nor the kindred spirit I had missed, but the Emperor of Xi Liang whom I had never truly understood.
I bore him no grudge, nor did I regret anything, I just felt strange.
He maintained an expression as if reuniting with an old friend, softly saying, “Thirteen, I’ve finally seen you again.”
I kept a straight face and didn’t look at him, formally offering a greeting. “This concubine greets Your Majesty.”
“Thirteen…” Sadness immediately filled his light brown eyes.
“Your Majesty, I am already married. It might be inappropriate to continue using the old form of address,” I said somewhat irritably.
I didn’t expect that Xia Zhiqian’s stories of making things difficult for me had spread far to Xiliang. No wonder even Princess Nan Rui was looking at me a bit strangely…
Yan Huo pondered for a moment, softly asking: “I’ve heard that Lord An has a reputation for being dissolute. Xiao Yao, are you truly doing well?”
“Rumors also say that Lady An is a salty and fierce wife,” I laughed. “You see, rumors are never reliable. An Jin and I grew up together; he’s not that kind of person.”
Yan Huo hesitated slightly. “Xiao Yao, do you truly know An Jin inside and out?”
I nodded without hesitation.
“Many things are not as simple as they appear on the surface,” he furrowed his brow.
“Do you know that all the letters and gifts I sent you after returning to the country were intercepted midway?”
I was stunned.
